A Detailed Breakdown of Single-IP Channels for June 2024
How many there are in total, which platforms have the most, what are the most distributed single-IP channels, who runs the most channels and more analysis
Single-IP channels are a boon to the FAST industry. They provide instantly recognizable content and brands for consumers new to FAST, offering a validity boost that it is a format worth watching. They make it possible for content owners to have many more channels than would be possible if the channel type was curated. And they tap into the consumer desire to binge watch, which started with home video releases, transitioned to weekend marathons on cable TV and ultimately helped propel the likes to Netflix to their position today.
Those are all reasons for why the number of single-IP channels continues to grow, and will keep doing so even as the general market matures. They offer fantastic value to content owners, effectively meaning someone with a deep content library can become a content spider, ensaring viewers on its web by saying “if not channel a, then channels b-through-z will catch them.”
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There are four services with over 100 single-IP channels available, led by Freevee with 142 and then Sling Freestream, Pluto TV and Roku Channel. Samsung TV Plus and Plex are not far behind.
FilmRise is the company with the greatest number of single-IP channels distributed on at least one of the tracked FAST services, but that fact is up for interpretation. I kept CBS and MTVE/Pluto separate as I believe the various teams do not operate as a single whole, but if you were to take the total number of Paramount-operated single-IP channels, they would have the most with 33. A+E Networks and NBCUniversal have also embraced this format with gusto.
FilmRise also distributes the three most-distributed channels: Forensic Files, Heartland and Unsolved Mysteries, all of which are available on 13 services tracked by FASTMaster.
Perhaps the most interesting data point in this analysis is this. If you read last year’s Life in the FAST Lane report at Variety VIP+, or have heard me moderate on stage, you’ll know a big bugbear I have around FAST was when David Zaslav said 18 months ago in an earnings call that FAST was great for shows like Rawhide. That gave the impression that FAST, and, by proxy through naming a single show, single-IP channels, was driven by older content.
But look at the distribution of the decade that a single-IP channel began to air. Two-thirds began in 2000 or later, the complete opposite of the idea that only older content works on FAST.
But it gets better. Over a third of single-IP channels are based on shows which are still making new episodes. Thus it can be argued that they are a great use case as a fandom extender and as Banijay’s Shaun Keeble explained in our FAST Friends discussion, can drive viewers to watch new episodes related to properties they love.
For all of these reasons, expect to see plenty more single-IP channels on FAST in the coming months and years. If you want to end with a wild speculative idea, perhaps there will be one service in years to come that only offers single-IP channels. Let’s see if that happens.